On May 16, the biggest stars in global track and field landed in China to begin one of the toughest journeys in track and field: the road to the 2026 Wanda Diamond League Final.
With no Olympic Games or World Championships in 2026, the Diamond League Final was the main season goal for many athletes. Yet to get there, they would have to deliver week in, week out on the biggest stages against the very best in the world.
It started with a Chinese double-header in Shanghai/Keqiao and Xiamen. It started with a bang…
Shanghai/Keqiao: Schilder breaks 21 metres
The first sign that 2026 was going to be a record-breaking year came in the women’s shot put in Shanghai/Keqiao, as Dutch thrower Jessica Schilder landed the furthest throw in the world for 14 years.
After a slow start to the competition, Schilder launched a huge 21.09m in the fifth round, breaking Valerie Adams’ previous Diamond League record from 2012 and becoming the first woman since 2009 to join the 21-metre club.
“I can’t comprehend it. It is such a huge thing, it is crazy!” said Schilder after the competition.
While Adams’ record had stood for nearly a decade and a half, Schilder’s would last barely a few months, as her explosive start in Keqiao kicked off a historic year of competition in the shot put.
It was not the only performance in Keqiao which set the tone for things to come.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos also got off to a flying start in the men’s 300m hurdles, snatching a shock victory over world record holder Karsten Warholm.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, meanwhile, Masai Russell burst out of the blocks with a meeting record of 12.25.
Xiamen: Russell and Yan break records
After a crazy kick-off in Keqiao, the athletes had a week to soak up the local culture in China before the next leg of the Road to the Final in Xiamen.
The second meeting of the season proved to be even more momentous, with two Diamond League records falling at the Egret Stadium.
China’s Yan Ziyi was an unknown quantity when she stepped up on home soil in the women’s javelin, but she ended the night a global star after one of the most impressive Diamond League debuts in history.
The 17-year-old launched the second-furthest throw in history with 71.74m, falling just 54 centimetres short of the world record and becoming only the fourth woman ever to clear 71 metres.
It was a performance that delighted the home crowd, stunned the world and set the tone for what proved to be a Chinese resurgence in the Diamond League in 2026.
Yan wasn’t the only woman to rattle a world record, however, as Masai Russell delivered another stunning performance in the 100m hurdles.
The American clocked her second meeting record in the space of a week with 12.14, setting a new Diamond League record and coming to within 0.02 seconds of Tobi Amusan’s world record.
After a dip in fortunes after her 2024 Olympic title, Russell was now back on top of the world and ready to become the fastest woman in history.
